Tangle Lakes 1999

During our annual trips to the Tangle area on Memorial Day Weekend, we have often found the drainage still locked in the grip of Winter.  However, this is the time of year when the best fishing is found. Here I am bundled up for a cold, icy day of fishing for Arctic Grayling on the Tangle River landing a fish.

Ice flows develop when the underlying river freezes forcing the water to flow over the top of the frozen river.   This water in turn freezes building very thick layers of Ice. This ice flow towers over Neva on the Tangle River.

Neva shows a large Grayling that she caught on the Tangle River during a blustery day in late May.  These larger fish come up out of Round Tangle Lake to spawn in the river early in the year.

Typically, during this migration and pre-spawning period, these Arctic Grayling will hold in large schools that are found in only a couple of holes throughout the 1/2-mile stretch of the river between Long and Round Tangle Lakes. Once these fish are found, it is generally pretty fast action.  Neva is hooked into another good-sized Grayling.

Though we have seen Wintry weather in the Tangle Lakes area many years at Memorial Day (very rarely are the lakes free of ice), only in 1999 did we find the Ice Flows on the river as depicted in these photos. I get in on the action as well in the Ice Canyon formed by the flows.

Later on the same day, the Sun broke out and made conditions a little more comfortable.  I was able to coax two of my Sons out on to the river for some easy Nymphing. JT has a good Grayling on while his older Brother, Devin looks on.  Both boys were able to land a few Arctic Grayling using a Nymph under a Strike Indicator.

The Baker Family doesn't generally fish on Sunday (this is the ultimate test of Faith for Dad).  So, we often take hikes or play a game of Kick-the-Can in the hills around the Tangle Lake Campground. The lakes and hills in the area are a result of an ancient Terminal Moraine that left heaps of debris.  The Native Peoples used this area as a hunting ground for hundreds of years.

A photo of the Baker Family in 1999 on a hill overlooking the Tangle Lakes Campground.  None of the Baker Kids are small enough to put on Dad's shoulders any longer. It might be pointed out that the weather always seems to be conducive to fishing on Sunday.